Coronavirus: Another 621 people die in UK with COVID-19

The number of people who have died with coronavirus in hospitals, care homes and the wider community in the UK has risen by 621 to 28,131.

The number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus is up 4,806 to 182,260.

Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 is down from 15,111 to 14,695.

During Saturday’s daily news conference, communities secretary Robert Jenrick said that 1,129,907 coronavirus tests have been carried out in the UK, including 105,937 on Friday.

Mr Jenrick reiterated that the UK had “passed the peak of the virus” and reassured people that the prime minister will explain “how we will address the second phase” next week.

He said he knew the “restrictive measures… are difficult for everyone”, adding: “All of you, watching at home this afternoon, have made sacrifices – big and small,” before pledging more support for victims of domestic violence.

He also emphasised the government’s help for rough sleepers and people who were ‘shielding’ at home.

Each home nation has also disclosed daily figures for hospital deaths.

In England, a total of 370 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths to 20,853.

A further 44 people have died in Wales, taking the total number of deaths there to 969, Public Health Wales said.

In Northern Ireland, the number of deaths have gone up by 11 to 376, and in Scotland they are up 44 to 1,559.

Saturday’s figures are just short of Italy, which has had the deadliest novel coronavirus outbreak among European countries, reporting 28,236 deaths on Friday.

At the news conference, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said the number of people in hospital has decreased by 13% in the last week and London has come back down to the levels of other regions across the UK.

“The pressure on the NHS is now moving down,” she confirmed.

On the daily number of COVID-19 deaths in all settings, she said the death rate is “starting to come down very gradually, very slowly – it’s very important we continue to practice social distancing”.

Mr Jenrick revealed more about the government’s plans for contact tracing, saying that work on a “multi-faceted strategy with the (NHS) app at its heart,” was under way.

The app aims to reduce infection rates by alerting people who may have been exposed to the virus so they can take action to protect themselves.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

NHS England’s figures show that, across England, the highest number of hospital deaths on a single day occurred on 8 April, with a total of 864.

Of the 370 new deaths across England announced on Saturday, 75 occurred on 1 May, 149 occurred on 30 April and 52 on 28 April.

The figures also show 85 of the new deaths happened between 1 April and 28 April, but have only just been announced, while the remaining nine deaths occurred in March, with the earliest new death taking place on 13 March.

NHS England releases updated figures each day showing the dates of every coronavirus-related death in hospitals in England and often includes previously uncounted deaths that took place several days or even weeks ago.

This is due to the time it takes for deaths to be confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19, for post-mortem examinations to take place and for data from the tests to be validated.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Another 621 people die in UK with COVID-19